Low temperature devices are used in cryophysics and in sensors that are based on a low temperature effect. Such low temperature devices are disclosed, for example, in European Patent No. EP1014056 A2. Conventional low temperature devices have a low temperature container with at least one test opening. A probe holder is disposed in the low temperature container, and a material probe that is to be investigated is attached to the probe holder. A probe attached to the probe holder can be cooled to the desired temperature using a cooling device with a cooling head placed in the low temperature container. The probe holder and attached probe are so situated in the low temperature container that the probe is visible through the testing opening. A two-stage pulsed tube cooler and a demagnetization stage are used as the cooling device. Instead of a demagnetization stage, a 3He/4He demixing cooler or a 3He cooler can also be used. The pulsed tube cooler pre-cools the probe to about 4 K, and the second cooling device cools to the operating temperature of the sensors based on a low temperature effect to a range of 50-400 mK. Such conventional cryodetector devices are costly because they require two cooling stages and operate at the extremely low operating temperatures of the sensors. Due to these low operating temperatures, multiple infrared filters are needed, as well as many shields in the area of the measuring blowpipe. Consequently, the measuring blowpipe must have a large diameter. A similar conventional low temperature device is also disclosed in German Patent No. DE10317888 B3.
With such low temperature devices it is often necessary for vibration-sensitive investigation and manipulation devices to be coupled to the test opening. For example, this is done by flange-mounting the particular test device onto the test opening. Owing to this mechanical connection, vibrations of the cooling device are transferred to the test device, which is undesirable in some test devices such as optical measuring sections. Such a conventional cooling device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,954,713.
Japanese Patent No. JP8166331 discloses a device for characterizing semiconductor probes with a low temperature device that includes a low temperature container with a test opening, a probe holder that is situated in the low temperature container, and a cooling device that is thermally coupled to the probe holder. German Patent No. DE10056131 discloses a cooling device that includes a low temperature container, a probe holder that is situated in the low temperature container, and a cooling device that is thermally coupled to the probe holder. Additional related cooling devices are disclosed in European Patent Nos. EP0585001 and EP1406107 and United Kingdom Patent Nos. GB2325045 and GB2322969.
A low temperature device is sought that allows vibration-sensitive test and manipulation devices to be directly connected to a test window.